The Fountain

Ocean Rain; 2009

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Echo and the Bunnymen have now released as many studio albums since their reunion as the original quartet did during its run in the 1980s. Comparing the two careers directly probably isn't fair-- after all, it was the same quartet of Ian McCulloch, Will Sergeant, Les Pattinson, and Pete de Freitas that made those first five albums, whereas the reunion version never had de Freitas (he died in a motorcycle accident in 1989) and lost Pattinson after one album. Anyone who thinks bassists and drummers aren't important to the sound of a rock band could take a lesson there, as not having their old rhythm section has clearly made a difference.

Of course, age has too. Whether they were trying to keep up with the Britpop kids (1997's Evergreen), acting their middle age (1999's What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?), returning to their post-punk roots (2001's Flowers), or hitting the autopilot (2005's Siberia), it was always clear that the Bunnymen's second life was (no pun) a mere echo of their first. That autopilot they engaged on Siberia is still pretty well punched on The Fountain. McCulloch's always going to be a great singer, and Sergeant's always going to be a great guitarist with his own style, but the two have reached a point here where they seem to be cranking out these second-generation Bunnymen tunes in the way a Toyota Corolla factory cranks out cars. It's efficient and the quality is solid, but it's not that exciting either.

You do get a few aces, chief among them lead track and single "I Think I Need It Too", which has the classic sonorous McCulloch vocal, some liquid guitar leads from Sergeant, and a big, pumping chorus. "Proxy" is a pleasant surprise, going outside the band's usual box to scare up a piano-driven pop tune with breathy "whoa-oh-oh" backing vocals-- it's infectiously happy, not something you can say about many songs by this band, and if I were choosing, it'd be the next single. A good portion of the rest of the album basically photocopies "I Think I Need It Too", mining the same general sound for less return. "Do You Know Who I Am?" pairs a guitar part so melodically slight it makes little impression with a verse vocal consisting entirely of two-word phrases matching verbs with the word "it." The title track and "Shroud of Turin" are rote mid-tempo Bunnymen.

They get more mileage from the formula on "Drivetime", which has good backing vocals and more considered guitar leads, while "Life of 1,000 Crimes" distinguishes itself with a spry, stomping rhythm, some bells low in the mix and a nimble vocal from McCulloch. That's about 180 degrees from the dour, piano-dominated closer "The Idolness of Gods", where McCulloch sounds weary, perhaps lulled near sleep by the string synthesizer or his own down/ground/drowned rhyme scheme. The band's classic albums and best reunion discs (Evergreen and Flowers) have a cavernous darkness and intensity that McCulloch and Sergeant simply don't muster here. Ultimately, The Fountain is an echo of an echo, inessential to all but the band's most devoted followers.